Thanks, Joy!

Chapter Ten: Christmas Time

Weeks went by, some of them eventful and other ones during which nothing remarkable happened, except for all those little things, insignificant at first sight and only meaningful on the whole, that make up our everyday life.

Sirius got a promotion and made a couple of friends at work; Harry went to Nicky's several times and learnt to write his own name, which his godfather considered a reason for celebration and took Harry to an amusement park for the first time in his life, and both of them nearly destroyed the TV set as Sirius tried to fix it. As everyone can see, nothing remarkable happened, and yet a million of little, insignificant things filled Harry's and Sirius' lives during those days that extended into weeks; helping them to bond. Actually, for Harry it was becoming harder to remember how his life before Sirius had been and Privet Drive had begun to resemble a bad dream. For Sirius things were a little different. He sensed it'd be a long time before he could forget, if ever, the horror he'd suffered in Azkaban, but he noticed that his nightmares were progressively fading as time went by and he got used to life again.

Several miles away, Snape and Connor faced more or less the same things. They visited Malfoy Manor some times more and, even though Connor and Draco were getting on better, Connor suspected they wouldn't be close in a long time. With Theo it was different: both children became friends almost at once in spite of the age difference, and they met several times after that memorable day. However, Theo didn't get along with Connor's other friends. He was a loner by nature and didn't like joining crowds, so when he visited Connor it was just the two of them. It didn't matter, as Connor saw the other children almost every day.

As he spent more and more time with them, he began to mirror them in some attitudes and actions, slowly putting aside his differences. Snape knew that Connor would never be like the other children, but as time passed by he noticed that the child was becoming more normal. He wasn't so serious and formal now, he laughed more and there was an innocent and trusting look in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

Also, Snape noticed that he almost didn't mention Pylea anymore, rarely mentioning Daniel and Justine. It was as if Connor's memories of his previous life were fading away, and now Snape heard him talking about magical stuff and about what he'd do when he went to Hogwarts naturally, his old fear of witchcraft forgotten. Even the nightmares had disappeared, as if the terrible memories that used to haunt his sleep had been erased.

As for Snape, sometimes he opened his eyes in the morning and couldn't understand why he wasn't looking at the high ceiling of his room in Hogwarts, until he remembered the dramatic turn his life had taken. Sometimes he missed the times when he had had no one to depend on him and he wondered what he had had in his mind when he had accepted to take care of a child that was not his.

This feeling usually lasted until Connor gave him a sleepy smile over his porridge, or he showed him proudly a new word he'd learnt, or he took his hand confidently and chattered about something he'd seen or done. In those moments Snape would forget his regrets and immerse himself in the pleasant routine they both shared, and other times he thought of his life without Connor as if it had happened a long time ago.

It had its ups and downs, of course. Connor wasn't a saint and Snape had been compelled not just to lecture him, but also to give him punishment. Which was a complete nightmare for both of them. With his students it had been always been easy for Snape, but with Connor it was much more difficult, as it was harder to tell when a punishment was too much for a boy his age or when his fondness of the boy made him to be softer than he intended. On the whole, he thought that he hadn't been doing it so badly, as the child didn't hate him but didn't look like he was going to become a spoiled brat like Draco Malfoy.

Before any of them realised it, Christmas time arrived and both families faced the fact that this would be the first Christmas they'd spend together (respectively, of course).

'Connor,' Snape asked his protégé one Sunday afternoon. 'What would you like to do for Christmas?'

The child looked up from the kite he had been trying to repair (Snape himself had made it, with Connor's help, and it soon had became obvious that both of them weren't good at craftmanship as the kite tore apart after a few minutes of flying it) and stared at him quizzically.

'To do?' he repeated. 'I don't get it.'

'Well,' Snape explained. 'Usually people decorate a tree or something like that…'

'Oh! Now I remember that Justine told me that stuff, but as in Pylea we didn't have a calendar we never celebrated Christmas…' His voice trailed off, his mind lost in past memories. Snape decided he didn't like where the conversation was going so he pulled Connor out of his reverie:

'I thought we could spend Christmas at Hogwarts. Hagrid always decorates a dozen trees, and Professor Flitwick puts up some decorations too… There'll be a feast and also some crackers.'

'Crackers?' The boy asked, puzzled. Snape explained what crackers were and Connor's face shone with delight. 'Oh! It sounds like fun. Can we go?'

'Yes,' he replied, glad that the child had liked the idea. Truth to be told, Snape viewed Christmas in a quite Scrooge-like way and he had had no clue of what he'd do with Connor during that festivity, until Professor Dumbledore had invited them to join the celebration at Hogwarts. However, there was still a delicate problem that needed to be resolved.

'Connor, what would you like for Christmas? As a present, I mean.'

The child lowered his gaze, lost in thought. After a few minutes, he looked up, his eyes glinting with hope:

'I'd like to go to a Quidditch match. A real one.'

Snape blinked. Okay, he hadn't expected that.

'Are you sure that's what you want?' He had never been that keen on Quidditch, except when Slytherin won the Cup. Connor nodded eagerly. He had gone to a Quidditch match with Eddie Carmichael and he wanted nothing more than to go again. 'Fine then. Do you have any preference?'

'I'd like to see the Kenmare Kestrels. It's my favourite team so far.'

Snape smiled. Yes, he had noticed it, since Connor had covered his walls with posters of that team.

'Well, we'll see,' he said, putting an end to the matter. 'Now, do you think that kite can fly a little more or should we buy a new one?'

Harry opened his eyes at the feeble ray of light that touched his lids. He watched the shapes that the shadows formed on the ceiling for a moment, until he remembered which day it was.

He jumped from bed, put his slippers on and flew across the corridor to his godfather's bedroom.

'Merry Christmas!' he exclaimed at top of his lungs while he jumped on the bed. Sirius woke up with a start, and Harry giggled when he saw his shocked face.

'What on earth…?'

'It's already Christmas, Sirius!'

Sirius blinked several times until his eyes got used to the surrounding darkness and he realised where he was.

Softly pushing Harry away, he rose from bed and opened the curtains. Outside, everything was white: snow had fallen during the night, covering the streets and the roofs.

'Well, it seems we'll have a white Christmas,' he said and turned to Harry. 'I guess you're waiting for your presents, aren't you?'

The child's eyes widened.

'Did I get presents?'

Sirius had a hard time keeping his face straight.

'Of course you did. What did you expect?' He grinned. 'Go ahead, they're under the tree.'

Harry beamed and ran downstairs, followed by Sirius. He stopped in front of the huge tree Sirius had gotten, hesitant. There were many packages under it and he didn't know which one was for him. Sirius placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

'Why don't you start with this one?' He suggested, pointing at a blue, square-shaped box. Harry did so, careful not to rip the paper, and gasped when he saw what was inside.

'Oh, it's a Nintendo!' he exclaimed, delighted. Then his face darkened and his voice sounded crestfallen when he added. 'It's really expensive. You shouldn't have bothered.'

Sirius frowned. Those damned Dursleys… They'd better pray he didn't find them in a bad mood…

'Of course I had to bother! You're my godson. Besides, I want you to teach me how to play with that thing. There are a couple of games I want to give a try.'

Harry smiled again, and they proceeded to open the remaining packages, which contained even more surprises to Harry's awed eyes. He had never received so many presents in all his life, and once they were over his face was shinning with joy in a way Sirius had never seen it.

Sirius didn't remember when had been the last time he had had a decent Christmas, and he was pretty sure that Harry had had none, so he intended this one to be perfect.

They spent the morning baking cookies (and burning half of them) and putting up decorations all over the house, until the place resembled a Christmas postcard. In the afternoon, they built a snowman which was almost as tall as Harry. They dressed it with a pair of yellow gloves and a red hat, his imaginary neck surrounded by a scarf with dogs on it. They took a step backwards and admired their work. It wasn't perfect (its head was abnormally large and square-shaped) but Harry thought it was pretty good, considering it was the first time he ever made one.

Remus arrived just in time for a massive snow fight, which got so fierce that Harry had to use Mr. Ice (the snowman's name) as a shield, while Sirius and Remus kept tossing huge snowballs at each other.

Harry liked Remus, who was always kind to him and knew wonderful stories, even though he liked Sirius better but with Sirius it was different: it was the closest thing to a family he'd ever had.

When they were soaked enough and every muscle in their bodies ached, they got inside to get warm in front of the fire. A few minutes later Sirius went to the kitchen to prepare the dinner and Harry asked Remus for a story. The man smiled and softly began to tell Harry a Christmas tale his father had told him as a child, when life had been much more simple.

'Once upon a time, not so long ago, neither that far away, there was a man. His name was Ebenezer Scrooge and he loathed Christmas…'

Once Remus had finished his story and Sirius had called to dinner, there was a soft knock on the door, closely followed by another one. Sirius frowned. He wasn't expecting anyone else.

He went to answer the door and Harry noticed that Remus was smiling.

'Remus, what is it?' He asked in a whisper, pulling his sleeve. The man's smile became broader.

'It's a surprise for Sirius. A Christmas present.'

Wondering what it could be, Harry tiptoed to the hall in time to see Sirius opening the door. He waited, holding his breath, until the door was finally open and Sirius let out a gasp.

To his disappointment, Harry could not see what the surprise was as his godfather blocked it from sight, so he took a few steps closer until he got a good view of the doorstep and the night beyond.

Surprised, he saw that it wasn't some kind of box what was on the doorframe, but a person. A woman, in fact.

She looked a few years older than Sirius and there was something oddly familiar about her, something Harry couldn't place, as he was pretty sure he'd never seen that woman in his whole life.

Her hair was middle-length and chestnut-coloured while her eyes were soft and brown, and her face was heart-shaped and lightened by a broad smile.

'Andromeda? Is it you?' Sirius asked in a hushed whisper. Her smile broadened.

'In the flesh,' she answered, and Harry was surprised to hear how much her voice sounded like Sirius. 'So, how have you been, little cousin?'

Introductions were made and explanations were given, and Andromeda Tonks (formerly Andromeda Black) joined them for dinner. It turned out she was Sirius' cousin ('The only one I ever liked', he confessed to Harry), whom he hadn't seen in years. Remus had happened to run into her just the previous day and, guessing that his friend would like to see his cousin after all these years, had invited her secretly, as a surprise for Sirius.

The surprise worked as Sirius' eyes were incredibly wide and his jaw had fallen open. He was more than a little astonished to see her there, but soon he composed and invited her for dinner. She accepted gracefully and took a seat at the table, which was trembling because of the weight of all the dishes on it.

After half an hour, Harry decided that he liked her. She had a nice laugh (a bit like Sirius') and a tender voice, and she was very funny. A bit like Sirius, too. They didn't look physically alike, but one could notice they were relatives from the way they spoke and their gestures, which mirrored each other.

'So, where did you leave your husband and daughter?'

'Ted is on a business trip (yeah, I know, the worst time in the year for those) and Nynphadora preferred staying at school, so they've left me on my own to do what I please. You know, I'm feeling quite reckless right now.' Andromeda answered, grinning. She had a contagious grin.

Sirius smiled, too, but there was the tiniest hint of sadness in his eyes.

'Nynphadora must have grown up a lot since the last time I saw her.'

'Oh, you can be sure of that. Now she doesn't want to be called 'Nynphadora' anymore. She says it's a silly name, and instead wants to be called 'Tonks'! Can you believe it? We spent months before her birth trying to decide which name she'd be called, and the ungrateful girl doesn't like it!'

Both Sirius and Remus laughed at Andromeda's indignant tone.

'Honestly, Andy', Sirius commented, 'what did you expect? I mean, what are her friends supposed to call her?'

'I don't know. Dora, maybe. Or Nynph. Or they could just call her 'Nynphadora'. It has a lot of possibilities. Unlike 'Sirius'.'

'Hey, I've never said I liked my name. That's why instead I preferred a simply ridiculous nickname like 'Padfoot'. Otherwise, who in his right mind would like to be called that?'

'Sirius, you were never in your right mind' Remus joked, receiving a playful punch from his friend. 'Oy! That hurt.'

'Liar.'

'Children, behave,' called Andromeda motherly. Harry was quite amused to see grown ups behaving like children. Maybe it was Christmas magic.

It was, no doubt, the best Christmas Harry had ever had in his whole life. After he had eaten much more than he was used to, and played with crackers, and laughed at Sirius' jokes, he finally fell asleep on the sofa. Sirius took him tenderly in his arms and carried him to his bedroom, without his even noticing. When he walked down the stairs, he saw Andromeda waiting for him, while Remus had disappeared from sight. Here we go…

The details of the conversation that followed are irrelevant, all that mattered was that after all those years, Sirius had finally recovered the only one relative who had ever cared for him.

Merry Christmas, Sirius, Remus thought after throwing a glance at their direction, as he proceeded to start the washing-up, and he realised it was the first true Christmas he'd had in years.

Merry Christmas to us all, then.

Connor fell asleep at the staff table, after eating all he was able to, played with crackers (and winning a puffskein) and chattered non-stop with Professor Dumbledore about the Quidditch game Snape had taken him to.

Snape watched the sleeping child, who looked peaceful for once. It seemed like he no longer feared sleep, even though every now and then a little frown appeared on his forehead. Snape would place a hand on his head and after a few seconds the frown would disappear and his face would look beatific again.

'So, what are you going to do now, Severus?'

The Potions Master stared at tiny Professor Flitwick, without understanding.

'Do about what?'

'Well, the child,' Flitwick replied as if it were obvious. 'I thought you'd said it was a temporary thing, so I wonder what are you going to do with him now…'

Dumbledore, who was at the opposite side of table, listened intently without them noticing, and hid a smile when he heard Snape's indignant reply:

'Of course he's staying with me. Where else could he go?'

Dumbledore noticed the way Snape had placed a protective hand on Connor's shoulder and the way he was looking at the sleeping boy, and smiled.

His gaze met Flitwick's and his smile broadened.

Filius, you own me ten galleons.

She gazed at the small village, with its small, cozy houses full of Christmas decorations and smiled. It was one of the most beautiful places she'd ever seen in her way too long life…the ideal place to raise children.

She had to be careful, though. She'd been warned about the protection spells that surrounded the village, which would probably detect her sooner or later. And she didn't need to be chased down by some demon hunters right now.

After all, all she wanted was a small glimpse of her only child. Was that too much to ask? She reflected on all the things she'd done, something she did a lot since she'd gotten her soul back. Well, maybe it was too much to ask. Maybe she wasn't worthy to ask anything.

She got nearer to the house Pryce had indicated to her, careful not to be seen or heard. She shouldn't have bothered that much, really. Everyone was inside celebrating, so her presence would go unnoticed. For now.

She tiptoed to the window and took a look inside. It was a dark living room, with only a few candles to illuminate, but she noticed it was tidy and decorated for Christmas too. There were two people in the room. A tall, dark-haired man, and a small child. Him.

Her heart would have skipped several beats if such a thing would have been possible. Finally, after all those months, she was able to see her son. She could barely distinguish his features in the dark and was mildly surprised to realise he looked exactly like she'd imagined.

She was mesmerized at the sight of him – his brownish hair, his skinny frame, his sleepy smile. He was the most wonderful, most miraculous thing she'd ever seen. And he was standing before her eyes. He was real, and alive, and breathing. He was a miracle.

Darla would have wished to stay there eternally, but she was aware that it was only a matter of time before she was detected, so reluctantly she turned to leave.

She glanced once more over her shoulder and froze when her gaze met with an incredibly blue one for a brief instant, in which the world seemed to stop moving. He's seen me, she thought, frantic. Of course not, a voice in her head answered. But he will if you stay around for long.

So Darla turned around, this time without looking back at her only child.

But I'll come back, she promised in the darkness.

Soon.

Not even the travel by Floo Powder was enough to wake Connor up, who could barely stand on his own feet, half-asleep as he was. Severus had a hard time taking Connor's cloak off, as the boy wouldn't release the puffskein he had in his arms. The adult suppressed a sigh. Well, it could be worse. At least Connor hadn't got a dragon as a pet.

He led the boy carefully to the stairs, with the slight suspicion he'd have to carry him to his bedroom if he didn't wake up.

But gratefully Connor managed to open his eyes before they reached the stairs. He blinked several times, in an attempt to wake himself up, and his gaze fell on the snow-flecked window. He stopped dead on his tracks.

For the briefest instant, he caught the glimpse of a young woman, with an ivory face and silver hair, which shone in the pitch-black night. Her eyes are like mine, was all he could think before the vision faded away and there was nothing left but shadows, and he wondered whether he'd imagined it or not.

Jesse: I hope you've liked this chapter, as it's all fluffiness. I'm glad you've liked the way I portrayed Draco Malfoy: honestly, I don't believe much the theory that his childhood was a Greek tragedy: if he's so spoiled, there had to be a reason. It was fun to write about Mini-Draco and Mini-Nott, and their interactions with Connor. As for Harry... Well, like always, tragedy is constantly about to strike him. It's the way he is.

Conangse: Thanks for the review! Hope you've liked this chapter as well.